A typical day in
Rose Court?

There is no such thing as a typical day in Rose Court, as every day is varied and different. We relish our independence and not being tied by an over-prescriptive curriculum, so we can make the most of every day, offering our children varied and exciting experiences to enhance their learning and development.

We continually seek to bring new ideas and activities into our pupils’ school day to cater for every child’s interests, learning styles, strengths and skills. Come and visit us on any school day and you will see the diversity and range of activities in which our children are involved, from a class outside on our field at school carrying out a “mini-beasts” exploration to our Nursery children waiting with great anticipation for their chick and duckling eggs to hatch at Easter! You may find that one or two classes are not in school when you come, as we value the richness of first hand experiences so we take the children on educational visits spread throughout the year. We also regularly bring in visitors to school to share their experience and expertise with us. These include professional dancers, artists, theatre groups, musicians and indeed our current parents who kindly come to tell the children about such things as dental care, what happens when you have an x-ray and how faith festivals are celebrated within the home.

Within each class and every day, activities to promote literacy and numeracy, creativity and thinking skills, the ability to get on well with others or to learn independently take place. Many new concepts are introduced in the mornings, when children are particularly receptive. For this reason, we have chosen to have a long morning, from 8.40am to 12.20pm, then a shorter afternoon, which ends with our assembly at 3pm when we all come together to sing, have a story, listen and round off the day calmly and peacefully.

Of all the skills we have prioritised and the aspects of development which we consider to be important, children’s self-confidence and high self-esteem are of paramount importance so our learning programmes offer every child a chance to experience success and be valued, whether by achieving highly in academic learning, sport, music, art, competitions or the “hidden curriculum” including kindness, good manners, high standards of behaviour, thought and caring for others. Successes are rewarded by our Praise Point system, every child collecting points for animal certificates and badges which are presented in assembly. All children enjoy weekly “Golden Time” when they choose from a range of favourite activities which may, for example, include art and crafts, board games, playing with the parachute, cooking or using construction kits.

Beyond the classroom, we are lucky to have outstanding specialist rooms in Rose Court which are used by every class. These include our Music Room, ( we have a full-time specialist music teacher who does not have her own class, so every class has two music lessons a week), Dance Drama Studio, Art Room, ICT Suite, baking room and fantastic library. Each child enjoys developing gymnastics and games skills in our spacious Hall and outside when the weather is fine.

Every morning playtime and before or after lunch, our 5 – 7 year olds enjoy our outdoor environment with play equipment, seating areas, and space to run around with their friends. Our younger children in Nursery and Reception have their own designated outdoor areas for fresh air and fun, but also use all the play facilities offered to the older children as part of their school day.

In the middle of the morning, children have a daily healthy snack (Nursery also have an afternoon snack). We provide a choice of fruits and vegetables for our younger children and they are encouraged to try new things as well as popular and familiar flavours. Older children are asked to bring a healthy snack provided by home. We serve milk to all pupils, and fresh drinking water is freely available to everyone throughout the day. Rose Court lunches are delicious! Prepared by our 5 cooks from fresh ingredients, every day we offer a choice of four main courses. Of these, three will be suitable for vegetarian children, while one will include meat or fish. For dessert, children may choose a cooked pudding, fruit or yoghurt. Children may instead bring a packed lunch from home, but because our school meals are so good, currently only four children choose to do this on a regular basis.

Some children are collected from their classroom at the end of the afternoon while others choose to attend After School Club, or one from a wide range of extra-curricular activities and clubs planned to appeal to all ages and interests.

We have children in Rose Court from 7.20am, when Before School Club starts, until 6pm, the end of After School Club. It is a busy, happy place to be, as you will see for yourselves if you can find time to come and let us show you around our lovely school.